In his latest collection of essays, Neil Davidson brings his formidable analytical powers to bear on the concept of the capitalist nation-state. Through probing inquiry, Davidson draws out how nationalist ideology and consciousness is used to bind the subordinate classes to 'the nation', while simultaneously using 'the state' as a means of conducting geopolitical competition for capital. Davidson argues that a Marxist understanding of the meaning of contemporary nation-states must begin from the inseparable connections between them.